Reactionary with Insight

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If your contact is the right person to be associated with the opportunity; and there is a confirmed fit between your solution and their company; and there is confirmation of need; you’ve qualified the prospect.

KNOW the answer to every one of these questions to satisfy the stage of Qualified Prospect:

Do you have the right contact and what is their “role?”

Does your User feel the pain you aim to solve?

Does your Champion have the decision-maker’s ear (credibility)?

Does the Supervisor manages the user, and is aware of the pain?

Does the Influencer have the ability to make valuable mentions to the Decision-maker

Does the Decision-maker own the business & budget or are there other decision-makers to identify?

What are potential Obstacles – flush these people out early

What is your Rapport – do you have personality fit with the various contacts and have you established them as high up as possible?

What kind of person are you – not what kind of sales person you are? Sell him/her.

THINK, you are a sales person. And everyone at the client knows that, which means they are all predisposed to their opinions about sales people from long before you walked into the room. You have about 90 seconds to slip into that mold or break it. I call this the “Elephant in the Room.” And the best way to deal with an elephant in the room, something everyone sees and pretends to ignore, is to point it out with a shout and an exclamation point!

There is an elephant in the room – “ELEPHANT!” – don’t let it go

You are there to sell something – that’s not a secret

You are a huge opportunity for them if they leverage you

What can you do to be of personal value?

It is essential to acknowledge that you are a sales person, but that you also have value to share. You should aim to earn the right to pitch rather than simply assume that you have a laptop and they have a projector so you have the right to pitch. Communicate that you know you need to deliver value first, earn credibility and then if and only if they agree, pitch your product or service.

ACT – when you kick off, confirm your contact and their role. Confirm upfront that there is a business need – does the contact agree? And confirm timing – does the contact want to investigate this with you now? And lastly, confirm budget-source and owner as well as visibility to it? These are all crucial to ascertaining whether you are a benchmark conversation, fishing expedition or a genuine sale potential.

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REACTIONARY WITH INSIGHT

I’ve been in online media for more than fifteen years. I sold banner ads that had to be rotated manually each day, because an ad server hadn't been invented yet. I have had my wins and my losses. Nobody gets here without battle scars and nobody gets here alone. I am aligned with terrifically talented people in this industry and my focus is on local search marketing. I am keen on scalability. There are huge tectonic shifts happening in our industry right now, and a lot of maneuvering is required. It will become obvious soon enough, and then only the strong will survive.

Search. Local. Mobile

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